Another GIRL
by Veralidaine
Summary: My first non-Harry Potter fic, okay? Just thought I'd try my hand at Tamora Pierce stuff. *ahem* This is about after Kel's been made a knight and has to choose a squire. Oh, Neal, too...^_^ Please do review, but nicely.


A/N: Okay, guys, this is the first non-Harry Potter thing I've ever done, so please do be gentle, and  
forgive me if I've forgotten some incredibly important detail. It's been a bit since I read "Page,"   
okies? I've just decided to try something other than HP, so here's my attempt! (and the readers rejoice)  
  
Another GIRL  
Part 1  
by Veralidaine  
  
Sir Nealan of Queenscove shifted in his saddle, looking very bored and very tired as the new squires   
were lined up in front of himself and several other knights. Next to him, on her huge gelding, Sir   
Keladry of Mindelan (he STILL couldn't get used to calling her "sir") watched with interest. Of course,   
there had been news of another girl squire, and of course, Kel wanted to mentor her. Neal had a sinking  
feeling, though, that Lord Wyldon was not about to let Kel have her way.  
  
"Corrin of Kettlesbough!"  
  
A tall, blond boy strode out to stand next in line, looking quite nervous and somewhat apprehensive.  
  
"Alec of Corus!"  
  
A rather short, skinny boy with mousy brown hair stumbled in next to Corrin, looking thoroughly scared.  
  
"Elatha of Abbyrook!"  
  
A girl about the same height as Alec walked cautiously out to stand in line, her dark brown hair pulled  
back in a long, messy braid that left whispy curls in her face. Kel sat stiffly in her saddle, obviously  
trying to get a better look at the girl. She looked much older than the other squires, but then, Neal  
wasn't really sure.  
  
"Donall of Borlow!"  
  
A very tall boy with short black hair stalked over to stand next to Elatha, looking thoroughly annoyed  
at the girl's presence.   
  
Lord Wyldon rolled up his scroll. "Right. Those knights who feel you have made your decision, please   
step forward."  
  
Kel dismounted quickly from Peachblossom and stepped forward, crossing her arms and looking Lord Wyldon  
in the eye, which wasn't a hard task, as she was easily his height. "I wish to take Elatha of Abbyrook,  
Lordship."  
  
"I'm afraid I can't allow that, Mindelan." He looked, to Neal, like he was almost enjoying this. "I'm  
afraid it is the same issue we faced when the Lioness wanted to take you. The general public would not  
approve--"  
  
Kel looked very angry. "Fine," she interrupted sharply. "I do not see WHY it is you find amusement in  
such matters, but FINE."  
  
Neal raised one winged eyebrow. He'd be hearing about this one for the next few weeks, he was sure. Kel,  
though she'd been trained thoroughly in the Yamani ways of not showing ANY emotion, occasionally made an  
acception when it came to the Stump and his anti-femnist antics. Of course, this was a recent change in  
her attitude that had only come into play when Wyldon hadn't allowed Alanna to take Kel as her squire.  
And really, Neal thought it was probably good for her to show SOME emotion...  
  
"Sir Keladry, it is not I that makes the rules--"  
  
"Oh, don't give me that," Kel said calmly. "You and I both know perfectly well that you're the reason  
the Lioness couldn't take me as her squire, and this is the same exact thing you're doing now."  
  
Wyldon didn't respond, merely glared back at Keladry mildly. Kel didn't glare, just stared in a rather  
sharper manner than was usual for her. That was the Yamani training coming back again. Neal sometimes  
wondered when she'd snap and just end up throwing a tantrum over all these bottled up emotions. Neal  
sighed, knowing what he probably ought to do. He dismounted from his horse and stepped forward. "Lord  
Wyldon, I'll take Elatha of Abbyrook."  
  
Kel looked at him curiously. Of course, as he'd explained to her when he'd first met her, he knew the  
Queen, some of the Queen's Riders, and had grown up watching Alanna the Lioness battle for Tortall and  
King Jonathan. He was perfectly approving of female warriors. He shrugged lightly at Kel and returned  
his gaze to his former training master.  
  
Wyldon looked as if he might actually be considering the request. After all, he couldn't make up an   
excuse for Neal--he was a man. Why shouldn't he take the girl as his squire? After all, King Jonathan   
did, when he had been a knight...  
  
"So be it, Sir Nealan."  
  
Kel turned on her heel and climbed into her saddle again, looking slightly annoyed at not getting her   
way, and slightly happier knowing that, at least Neal would be training the girl, and that he would   
offer encouragement rather than trying to chase her out of knighthood, like certain OTHER knights would.  
  
Elatha of Abbyrook nervously walked over to Neal, looking quite apprehensive. She bowed stiffly. "Sir  
Nealan..." She stood back up again, and Neal got a good look at her.  
  
He found her rather curious. She had a round, pale face, with eyes the same color as Veralidaine's, a   
soft mouth, a small, round nose that looked as though it had been broken and healed once, and a little  
round chin. Though she'd obviously become a squire through passing all of the tests Lord Wyldon had   
thrown at her, the way the chocolate-brown whisps of hair fell in her face made her look very feminine   
indeed. She was wearing normal squire's clothing--a deerskin tunic over a plain blouse, with gray tights  
and small leather shoes. Up close, the girl appeared to be about nineteen, which was rather rare for a  
squire.  
  
"Right," Neal said, as Wyldon shot him a none-too-friendly glance. "D'you have a horse?"  
  
She nodded mutely. "It's at the stables."  
  
"All right, well, run and get it!"  
  
She obediently jogged off in the direction of the royal stables, and Kel glanced at him, fighting a tiny  
smile. Neal shrugged. Well, that's what that silly tradition was for...He started as a huge, midnight-  
black mare--probably a quarter horse--came trundling towards him, Elatha riding easily in the saddle.   
She pulled the reins back lightly and the huge mare stopped next to Neal's horse, which was about the  
mare's size, even though it was a stallion. Elatha glanced at Neal, now at eye-level, but didn't say  
anything.  
  
Neal raised an eyebrow. "Well, we leave tomorrow, then. You'd best get packed."  
  
"I already have, Sir Nealan."  
  
He was itching to tell her to just call him Neal--he hated being called Nealan. But, Lord Wyldon was   
standing right there, half-listening to the other knights, half-listening to Neal. And he didn't want  
the Stump giving him trouble about anything, as he would most likely do. He could just hear the gruff  
voice saying, "Squires ought to show proper respect to knights; nicknames will not do."  
  
Neal shrugged. "Good. I'll see you for dinner then, in the main hall."  
  
  
Elatha tied Stormy to her usual post in the stable and tied the feedbag on. Removing the heavy saddle,  
she sighed. Whoever this Sir Nealan was, it wasn't Sir Alanna or Sir Keladry, and that's who she had  
wanted. But, of course, the Stump (she didn't know where that nickname had come from, but the other   
pages who were there before she had used that name for Lord Wyldon, and it stuck) would NEVER let her  
have her way. Just because she was a girl. Well, that and a mage...  
  
And a mage she was. She wasn't your average healer, or wildmage, and she certainly had nothing to do   
with plants. No, she was an all-around witch, really. She had magic, but it wasn't only in one area. It  
mystified Numair Samalin, who had been called in to identify just what she was. He eventually came to   
the conclusion that she was a traditional witch, and nothing else. Personally, Elatha just couldn't see  
herself riding broomsticks or brewing up magic potions. But, if Samalin said so, then it must have been  
true, at least to a certain extent...  
  
After combing down Stormy, and getting her tunic thoroughly covered in horsehair, she trudged up the   
sloping hill to the castle to dress in her usual gown, so as to keep the tradition Keladry of Mindelan  
had started. Only this time, she dressed in a more elegant gown of pale pink. Mostly, this was a direct  
taunt for Lord Wyldon, but it was also the fact that Elatha just felt like looking pretty--just once   
before she left to become a knight.  
  
She pinned up her hair in braids, trying and failing to gather the curly whisps framing her face, and  
slipped on her leather shoes before making the familiar trip to the dining hall. She walked in, ignoring  
the silence that came over the hall. She sat down in her usual spot, next to Corrin of Kettlesbough.   
The boy glanced at her and choked. "What d'you think you're doing, wearing that in front of the Stump?"  
  
Elatha shrugged. "I've been picked by Sir Nealan of Queenscove to be his squire--I don't care if the  
Stump throws a fit. I don't have to serve detention for it anymore."  
  
Corrin grinned lopsidedly. "Well, 's long as you don't take this the wrong way, you look nice."  
  
"Thank you," Elatha said, grinning sweetly at Lord Wyldon, who was staring at her curiously. She giggled  
and nudged Corrin in the ribs. "Look at the expression on his face."  
  
Corrin snickered, spreading ample amounts of butter onto his bread. "Yeah, you've really got him pretty  
shocked. S'pose he fancies you?"  
  
Elatha wrinkled her nose at the thought and promptly leaned over and crammed the rest of Corrin's bread  
into his mouth. "He's a tad old, don't you think?"  
  
Corrin shrugged, swallowing the large hunk of bread in his mouth. "Oh, I dunno...That Samalin chap's a  
bit old for Veralidaine Sarrassri, and they still get along, don't they?"  
  
"Corrin, you twit, the Stump's got to be near sixty, and I'm only nineteen." She paused. "And plus, he's  
the Stump. What woman would ever...?"  
  
Corrin laughed loudly. "I don't think he fancies you; calm down. It was a jest."  
  
Elatha glared skeptically at the fifteen-year-old. "Wasn't a very funny one, now, was it?"  
  
Corrin shrugged. "'S a matter of opinion."  
  
They both stopped talking abruptly as the visiting knights entered. Elatha's eyes followed Sir Keladry  
to the high table, where she sat down, looking at the many boys (and girl) in the hall. Next to her was  
Sir Nealan, and Elatha was rather surprised to see that Nealan and Keladry seemed to be friends. They  
sat and chatted throughout the entire meal, occasionally glancing around the hall, or saying a quick  
hello to another knight.  
  
Once all of the knights' plates had been cleared away, Lord Wyldon stood and cleared his throat. Silence  
fell over the hall. "Squires who are leaving tomorrow with the knights are dismissed to finish packing  
and be off to bed." His eyes flicked in Elatha's direction. "The rest of you will be dismissed in the   
usual fashion."  
  
Obediently, Elatha stood with the few other squires who had been chosen, and the small group left the   
hall. As Elatha entered her old familiar room with its special locks and the various sparrows that   
always kept her company, she felt oddly sad. Though she had often longed to get away from being in the  
training ward, it now felt like a sort of second home, and she was quite saddened at the thought of   
leaving for good. She sighed as she changed into her nightdress and braided her hair up, glancing in the  
mirror at herself. She didn't look at all like a knight. If her parents hadn't decided to send her here,  
she'd be another pretty lady, probably preparing for marriage. As dull as that sounded, she thought it  
might be a bit better than battling Spidrens, which she was deathly afraid of...  
  
Well, she thought, blowing out her candle and snuggling down under the covers, At least I don't have to   
take any more trouble from the Stump. And maybe being a knight won't be as bad as I make it out to be.'  
  
  
  
A/N: Oookay, peeps. That's parte uno. Parte dos upon request, okay? Review nicely, won't you? Sorry if  
I've forgotten some huge, important thing in the books, but I've not read them in quite a while. Any  
suggestions are welcome, as long as you don't put them in the form of a flame. I can't stand getting  
reviews where someone's like, "HOW COULD YOU MAKE SUCH A STUPID MISTAKE?!?" It just lowers my self-  
esteem... 


End file.
